Blog - How Far Do Mountain Bikers Travel?

If you've ever tried mountain biking, you'll know that many factors influence the amount of work you do in the saddle, such as riding speed, terrain and weather. But perhaps most important is the size of the hills you tackle.

The question that Dennis Rapaport, from Bar Ilan University in Israel, tackles today is how to quantify this factor. And it turns out that it's not so easy to work out.

The obvious way to start is to find some way of determining the cumulative vertical distance travelled during a bike ride. So Rapaport used both GPS and barometric measurements during a lengthy ride to find out how they compare.

His results are a little surprising. While both methods produce altitude measurements at specific waypoints during the ride, he says that the GPS data is much noisier with all kinds of spikes and troughs that are caused by momentary loss of satellite signals and other signal degradation. The effect of this noise is that the GPS method tends to overestimate the cumulative vertical distance travelled.

The barometric data deduces changes in height by measuring changes in atmospheric pressure (assuming that there is no change due to the weather). The device that Rapaport used is periodically calibrated using GPS but this happens only occasionally so the device is not so susceptible to noise. Rapaport believes that this gives a more accurate estimate.

There's a sting in the tail, however. The final vertical distance estimation depends crucially on the number of waypoint measurements during the trip. Any distance travelled in between is simply averaged. But how many measurements are necessary?

It turns out there's no easily definable answer, no standard length scale that ought to be used. "Estimating cumulative ascent is an ill-defined task," concludes Rapaport. The question has no unique answer.

The problem, of course, is analogous to measuring a coastline or any fractal quantity. "At best, a range of estimates can be obtained, hopefully one that is comparatively narrow," says Rapaport.

And that means that cyclists are destined to never know exactly how much vertical distance they travel.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1011.4778: Evaluating Cumulative Ascent: Mountain Biking Meets Mandelbrot

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Blog - How Far Do Mountain Bikers Travel?

If you've ever tried mountain biking, you'll know that many factors influence the amount of work you do in the saddle, such as riding speed, terrain and weather. But perhaps most important is the size of the hills you tackle.

The question that Dennis Rapaport, from Bar Ilan University in Israel, tackles today is how to quantify this factor. And it turns out that it's not so easy to work out.

The obvious way to start is to find some way of determining the cumulative vertical distance travelled during a bike ride. So Rapaport used both GPS and barometric measurements during a lengthy ride to find out how they compare.

His results are a little surprising. While both methods produce altitude measurements at specific waypoints during the ride, he says that the GPS data is much noisier with all kinds of spikes and troughs that are caused by momentary loss of satellite signals and other signal degradation. The effect of this noise is that the GPS method tends to overestimate the cumulative vertical distance travelled.

The barometric data deduces changes in height by measuring changes in atmospheric pressure (assuming that there is no change due to the weather). The device that Rapaport used is periodically calibrated using GPS but this happens only occasionally so the device is not so susceptible to noise. Rapaport believes that this gives a more accurate estimate.

There's a sting in the tail, however. The final vertical distance estimation depends crucially on the number of waypoint measurements during the trip. Any distance travelled in between is simply averaged. But how many measurements are necessary?

It turns out there's no easily definable answer, no standard length scale that ought to be used. "Estimating cumulative ascent is an ill-defined task," concludes Rapaport. The question has no unique answer.

The problem, of course, is analogous to measuring a coastline or any fractal quantity. "At best, a range of estimates can be obtained, hopefully one that is comparatively narrow," says Rapaport.

And that means that cyclists are destined to never know exactly how much vertical distance they travel.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1011.4778: Evaluating Cumulative Ascent: Mountain Biking Meets Mandelbrot

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Twitter narrowly beats out munchable chili oil in survey of products hot in Japan [TNW Asia]

In a new survey conducted by Japan ad agency Dentsu, smartphones and Twitter beat out ?munchable chili oil? for the ?Hit Product Recognition Survey? in Japan in 2010.

The iPad was no match for munchable chili oil, however, finishing 19th in the survey to munchable chili oil?s #3 spot, following smartphones at #1 and Twitter at #2.

Munchable chili oil (we just can?t stop saying that, it?s so hot!) wasn?t the only let?s say ?only-in-Japan? result in the top ten, with LED light bulbs at #10, the Toyko Sky Tree (a still being built broadcasting tower) at #7 and Ryoma Sakamoto, a historical figure in a popular Samurai drama.

Some more understandable (outside of Japan) results were flat-screen TVs and the World Cup. Here?s the full list:

  1. Smartphones
  2. Twitter
  3. Munchable chili oil
  4. Digital flat-panel TVs
  5. Ryoma Sakamoto
  6. International flight services at Haneda Airport
  7. Tokyo Sky Tree tower
  8. Energy-saving appliances (that were eligible for a government rebate)
  9. The World Cup
  10. LED light bulbs

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/asia/2010/11/25/twitter-narrowly-beats-out-munchable-chili-oil-in-survey-of-products-hot-in-japan/

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Blog - How Far Do Mountain Bikers Travel?

If you've ever tried mountain biking, you'll know that many factors influence the amount of work you do in the saddle, such as riding speed, terrain and weather. But perhaps most important is the size of the hills you tackle.

The question that Dennis Rapaport, from Bar Ilan University in Israel, tackles today is how to quantify this factor. And it turns out that it's not so easy to work out.

The obvious way to start is to find some way of determining the cumulative vertical distance travelled during a bike ride. So Rapaport used both GPS and barometric measurements during a lengthy ride to find out how they compare.

His results are a little surprising. While both methods produce altitude measurements at specific waypoints during the ride, he says that the GPS data is much noisier with all kinds of spikes and troughs that are caused by momentary loss of satellite signals and other signal degradation. The effect of this noise is that the GPS method tends to overestimate the cumulative vertical distance travelled.

The barometric data deduces changes in height by measuring changes in atmospheric pressure (assuming that there is no change due to the weather). The device that Rapaport used is periodically calibrated using GPS but this happens only occasionally so the device is not so susceptible to noise. Rapaport believes that this gives a more accurate estimate.

There's a sting in the tail, however. The final vertical distance estimation depends crucially on the number of waypoint measurements during the trip. Any distance travelled in between is simply averaged. But how many measurements are necessary?

It turns out there's no easily definable answer, no standard length scale that ought to be used. "Estimating cumulative ascent is an ill-defined task," concludes Rapaport. The question has no unique answer.

The problem, of course, is analogous to measuring a coastline or any fractal quantity. "At best, a range of estimates can be obtained, hopefully one that is comparatively narrow," says Rapaport.

And that means that cyclists are destined to never know exactly how much vertical distance they travel.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1011.4778: Evaluating Cumulative Ascent: Mountain Biking Meets Mandelbrot

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U.S. to Drop Color-Coded Terror Alerts

There goes another punch line.

The Department of Homeland Security is planning to get rid of the color-coded terrorism alert system. Known officially as the Homeland Security Advisory System, the five-color scheme was introduced by the Bush administration in March 2002.

Red, the highest level, meant ?severe risk of terrorist attacks.? The lowest level, green, meant ?low risk of terrorist attacks.? Between those were blue (guarded risk), yellow (significant) and orange (high).

The nation has generally lived in the yellow and orange range. The threat level has never been green, or even blue.

In an interview on ?The Daily Show? last year, the homeland security chief, Janet Napolitano, said the department was ?revisiting the whole issue of color codes and schemes as to whether, you know, these things really communicate anything to the American people any more.?

The answer, apparently, is no.

The color-coded threat levels were doomed to fail because ?they don?t tell people what they can do ? they just make people afraid,? said Bruce Schneier, an author on security issues. He said the system was ?a relic of our panic after 9/11? that ?never served any security purpose.?

The Homeland Security Department said the colors would be replaced with a new system ? recommendations are still under review ? that should provide more clarity and guidance. The change was first reported by The Associated Press.

?The goal is to replace a system that communicates nothing,? the agency said, ?with a partnership approach with law enforcement, the private sector and the American public that provides specific, actionable information based on the latest intelligence.?

The department has already begun working toward the goal of providing more specific alerts.

After a Nigerian citizen, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was accused of trying to bring down a Detroit-bound plane last Christmas with explosives, the department issued new guidelines to airports and airlines without raising the threat level.

While the system may have had limited usefulness for the American people, it proved to be comedy gold for late-night shows.

Conan O?Brien joked, ?Champagne-fuchsia means we?re being attacked by Martha Stewart.? Jay Leno said, ?They added a plaid in case we were ever attacked by Scotland.?

Meanwhile, critics of the Bush administration argued that the system was a political tool.

And even Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security under President George W. Bush, has raised questions. In his memoir, ?The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege ... And How We Can Be Safe Again,? Mr. Ridge said Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, pushed for an elevated terrorism level in October 2004 after a threatening tape from Osama bin Laden was revealed.

Mr. Ridge wrote that after ?a vigorous, some might say dramatic, debate, I wondered, ?Is this about security, or politics?? ? While the security level ultimately was not raised, he said the incident helped him decide that it was time to leave the government in February 2005.

Amy Wax, president of the International Association of Color Consultants North America, said ? perhaps not surprisingly ? colors could be an effective part of a warning system if tied to specific action. ?How are we going to take those instructions and apply it to our lives?? she said. ?Are we going to go to the airport, or not go to the airport??

She said the agency?s use of ?childish? primary colors like red, yellow and blue might have diluted the impact. ?Purple, orange and magenta might create a sense of something that would get attention,? she said.

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=076acd57da37a45474495c6dfa34df7e

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Access denied: Facebook is banned?where, exactly? [TNW Social Media]


Access Denied
Much has been written about Facebook?s status as the world?s preeminent social network. And whilst there are some notable holes in its international armoury ? such as Brazil and Russia where other social networks hold fort ? Zucker & Co. doesn?t always have full control over where it can conquer.

The recent, albeit short lived, Facebook ban in Saudi Arabia served as a timely reminder that free speech simply doesn?t exist in some parts of the world. No information was revealed as to why the ban was implemented in the first place other than Facebook had ?crossed a line? (according to an anonymous source), and similarly, no reason was given as to why access was opened again.

Whenever Facebook falls victim to a country?s censorious regime much is written about it, but not quite so much is written when such bans are lifted. And some countries introduce bans sporadically, hence it can be difficult to keep tabs on which countries permit access and which don?t.

A Short History of The Facebook Ban

Bangladesh banned Facebook in May 2010 following the publication of satirical images of the prophet Muhammad on the social networking site. The so called ?social sanction? lasted a mere week.

Not long before that, Pakistan had forbidden Facebook too, on the back of an ?Everybody Draw Muhammad Day? campaign launched by some members of the network. Two months later the ban was lifted.

Syria is an often cited example of an ?enemy of the Internet?, and it?s easy to see why. Facebook has been officially banned in Syria since 2007, but obstacles such as the Government-erected firewall are easily circumvented in Internet cafes across the country. And according to Alexa ranking figures, Facebook receives the 8th highest number of visits in Syria ? not bad for a website that?s supposedly banned. Good old proxy servers, eh?

Vietnam has supposedly been refusing users access to Facebook since late 2009. But given that Facebook is seeking inroads into Vietnam via a local Policy & Growth Manager, this is questionable. The only official confirmation of this ban has been a deafening silence from the government on the subject. Oh, and a leaked circular purportedly from the government that stipulated Facebook should be banned.

Throw into the equation that Facebook?s Alexa ranking in Vietnam is number 6 and it seems that any ban isn?t taken all that seriously, despite the apparent compliance of many ISPs.

Iran, contrary to popular opinion, doesn?t officially ban Facebook. Its history of banning the site has been rather turbulent, however. Facebook had very limited access in Iran from at least 2007, but the ban seemed to have been lifted some time after that. A ban was reintroduced prior to the 2009 elections, but was then lifted again a few days later following criticism. At the time, 150,000 Iranians were members of Facebook.

This isn?t to say Iran is the Internet?s best friend, however. In early 2010, a list of banned websites was published in several local newspapers, which stated that sites such as BBC and Badoo weren?t to be used. And anyone found guilty of using such websites could face a long stint behind bars.

China, it?s safe to say, does ban Facebook. Although a hundred thousand users are filtering through the cracks in the great firewall of China though. But that?s paltry, from a population of 1.3 billion people, in a country that Mark Zuckerberg would so dearly love to get involved with.

Very little reliable data exists with anything relating to North Korea, but it?s safe to say that Kim Jong-il doesn?t permit access to Facebook, or any website for that matter.

With world domination high on the Facebook agenda, don?t be surprised if Facebook continues to go from strength to strength in many countries. But similarly, don?t be surprised if you read about many more short-term and prolonged bans in the future either.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/11/25/access-denied-facebook-is-banned-where-exactly/

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The Key Ingredient to Effective Cancer Treatments

About 50 percent of cancer patients have tumors that are resistant to radiation because of low levels of oxygen?a state known as hypoxia. A startup in San Francisco is developing proteins that could carry oxygen to tumors more effectively, increasing the odds that radiation therapy will help these patients.

Last month, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) gave that startup, Omniox, $3 million in funding. Omniox is collaborating with researchers at the NCI to test whether its oxygen-carrying compounds improve radiation therapy in animals with cancer.

Most tumors have hypoxic regions, and researchers believe they have a significant impact on treatment outcomes in about half of patients. Tumor cells proliferate with such abandon that they outstrip their blood supply, creating regions with very low levels of oxygen. This lack of oxygen drives tumor cells to generate more blood vessels, which metastatic cells use to travel elsewhere in the body and spread the cancer.

Radiation therapy depends on oxygen to work. When ionizing radiation strikes a tumor, it generates reactive chemicals called free radicals that damage tumor cells. Without oxygen, the free radicals are short-lived, and radiation therapy isn't effective. "Radiation treatment is given today on the assumption that tumors are oxygenated" and will be damaged by it, says Murali Cherukuri, chief of biophysics in the Center for Cancer Research at the NCI in Bethesda, Maryland. "Hypoxic regions survive treatment and repopulate the tumor."

Since the 1950s, researchers have tried many ways to get more oxygen into tumors, without success. Having patients breathe high levels of oxygen prior to radiation doesn't work, and developing an agent to carry oxygen through the blood to a tumor has proved very difficult. Artificial proteins that mimic the body's natural oxygen carrier, hemoglobin, can be dangerously reactive?destroying other important chemicals in the blood. And other oxygen carriers tend to either cling to oxygen too tightly or release it too soon, before it gets to the least oxygenated regions of the tumor.

"We're hoping that since most tumors are hypoxic, we could improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy in a large number of people," says Stephen Cary, cofounder and CEO of Omniox. The company has developed a range of proteins that are tailored to hold onto oxygen until they're inside hypoxic tissue. These proteins are not based on hemoglobin, so they don't have the same toxic effects.

The company's technology comes from the lab of Michael Marletta, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. "Most blood substitutes have failed," says Marletta, because they were based on globin proteins, which includes hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is able to work in the body because it's encased in red blood cells. Unprotected, oxygenated globin proteins react with nitric oxide in the blood, destroying the oxygen, the nitric oxide, and the protein itself.

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The Key Ingredient to Effective Cancer Treatments

About 50 percent of cancer patients have tumors that are resistant to radiation because of low levels of oxygen?a state known as hypoxia. A startup in San Francisco is developing proteins that could carry oxygen to tumors more effectively, increasing the odds that radiation therapy will help these patients.

Last month, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) gave that startup, Omniox, $3 million in funding. Omniox is collaborating with researchers at the NCI to test whether its oxygen-carrying compounds improve radiation therapy in animals with cancer.

Most tumors have hypoxic regions, and researchers believe they have a significant impact on treatment outcomes in about half of patients. Tumor cells proliferate with such abandon that they outstrip their blood supply, creating regions with very low levels of oxygen. This lack of oxygen drives tumor cells to generate more blood vessels, which metastatic cells use to travel elsewhere in the body and spread the cancer.

Radiation therapy depends on oxygen to work. When ionizing radiation strikes a tumor, it generates reactive chemicals called free radicals that damage tumor cells. Without oxygen, the free radicals are short-lived, and radiation therapy isn't effective. "Radiation treatment is given today on the assumption that tumors are oxygenated" and will be damaged by it, says Murali Cherukuri, chief of biophysics in the Center for Cancer Research at the NCI in Bethesda, Maryland. "Hypoxic regions survive treatment and repopulate the tumor."

Since the 1950s, researchers have tried many ways to get more oxygen into tumors, without success. Having patients breathe high levels of oxygen prior to radiation doesn't work, and developing an agent to carry oxygen through the blood to a tumor has proved very difficult. Artificial proteins that mimic the body's natural oxygen carrier, hemoglobin, can be dangerously reactive?destroying other important chemicals in the blood. And other oxygen carriers tend to either cling to oxygen too tightly or release it too soon, before it gets to the least oxygenated regions of the tumor.

"We're hoping that since most tumors are hypoxic, we could improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy in a large number of people," says Stephen Cary, cofounder and CEO of Omniox. The company has developed a range of proteins that are tailored to hold onto oxygen until they're inside hypoxic tissue. These proteins are not based on hemoglobin, so they don't have the same toxic effects.

The company's technology comes from the lab of Michael Marletta, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. "Most blood substitutes have failed," says Marletta, because they were based on globin proteins, which includes hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is able to work in the body because it's encased in red blood cells. Unprotected, oxygenated globin proteins react with nitric oxide in the blood, destroying the oxygen, the nitric oxide, and the protein itself.

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Sorry Apple, radio apps really aren?t the same as fart apps [TNW Media]

It seems that Apple has added another genre to its App Store black list ? radio station apps that only serve up a single station.

The Register reports on a letter to the editor of Radio Magazine in which Jim Barcus, president of app publisher DJB Radio Apps, complains that Apple started rejecting single-station radio apps on 10 November.

The reason? Barcus was apparently told, ?Single station app are the same as a FART app and represent spam in the iTunes store?. Apple ?will no longer approve any more radio station apps unless there are hundreds of stations on the same app.? When he emailed Steve Jobs directly to complain, Jobs reportedly replied in typically brief fashion ?Sorry, we?ve made our decision?.

Now, I know Apple makes a lot of idiosyncratic decisions entirely in its own interests, and it?s perfectly entitled to do that. However, this makes absolutely no sense at all. Individual radio station apps serve up unique content, this is nothing like yet-another-identical-fart-app.

If Barcus? account is accurate, the move is likely to frustrate radio stations large and small alike. Being able to say ?Download our own app? is a lot better than saying ?Find us on app X in the ?Country music category in the ?US? submenu ? or find us on app B in the ?American music category?. What?s more, individual apps allow radio stations to control any in-app advertising and extra content they may want to include. If you?re getting rid of those, you might as well remove all single outlet news apps too ? it?s exactly the same principle.

Could Apple be doing this because it plans to launch its own radio service of some kind? Possibly, but surely it would want to wipe out the apps that offer multiple stations too in that case. There?s no talk of existing single-station apps being removed, but those who have yet to submit their apps and any new radio stations just getting off the ground would appear to be out of luck.

We?ve approached Apple for comment and will let you know if we hear any clarity on this frankly bonkers-sounding policy.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/media/2010/11/25/sorry-apple-radio-apps-really-aren%E2%80%99t-the-same-as-fart-apps/

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Finding New Ways to Measure Success in Social Media [TNW Social Media]

Well according to the Huffington Post and APCO ? there is. A recent study by the two organisations ? Social EQ ? sought to rank the Fortune 40?s top admired companies, in terms of the effectiveness of their social media strategies. The results (shown below) might be surprising, which begs the question of whether this really is an accurate measure of success in social media. To give some context to the study, it was run by working with a group of Social Informants (avid users of social media inside and out) who identified 6 key factors of social media success: dialogue; customer service; quality of content; platform diversity; engagement & interaction; optimisation. Then a larger group of over 4,000 people were surveyed, to rank the 40 companies according to these factors. The graphic below shows the rankings:

The difference between popularity and effectiveness

The findings of this survey have to be taken in context. This was not looking at which companies worldwide are the most social, but using the indicator of the Fortune 40 companies that are listed as the most admired. So how does that admiration translate in social terms? While there are some companies in the top 10 of that list that fully deserve their place ? such as Disney and Coca-Cola, others are more surprising, such as Apple and Google. Were I to think of the top social companies, these certainly wouldn?t be in my top 10. That?s where the difficulty comes for what is actually effective, and what is perceived to be effective. Because the whole of Twitter is talking about Apple, does that mean their social media strategy is effective, or that in fact that are an incredibly popular company that is talked about by default, rather than engaging with these conversations directly?

To break it down, it?s worth looking at one of the companies in more detail, to see how the study translates. A look at Google?s social profiles tells us the following : the official Google blog is updated around 3 times per day, including cross-postings from other Google product blogs. Yet although the blogs claim to ?love feedback?, this is done through email. You?re not allowed to comment on a post in the usual way. Granted Google are a huge company and this would require some serious moderation, but nonetheless I wouldn?t equate this with effective engagement, dialogue, or customer service (3 of the 6 Social EQ factors).

The official Google Facebook page has over 2 million Likes, and the company updates it at least once every day. That?s certainly quality content, but if you click on to see the updates left by ?just others?, there are spam comments that haven?t been deleted, and not one reply from Google when you scroll back through hundreds of comments. They also hardly ever reply to comments left on their own updates. The same pattern can be seen on their Twitter account ? plenty of content and a large amount of followers, but no @ replies or retweets to other users. This may not be indicative of their entire social media effort, but it does tell us a lot. Compare Google?s or Apple?s social media strategy to someone like Coca Cola, who regularly create engaging content for their readers and invest in diversity of content through Facebook apps etc.. and it?s difficult to understand how they ranked above them.

Do numbers mean success?

If you were to look at this without the numbers, you wouldn?t say that this is an effective social media strategy from Google, effectively pushing one-way content through to users, with no engagement. But the difficulty arises from the fact that their followers are in the millions. This means we effectively perceive their social media strategy as effective, or more precisely that the groups in the study viewed numbers as a measure of success or effectiveness. As difficult as this may be for some to accept ? we know that the numbers tell only half the story ? this is unarguably the perception of social media success. And it sort of confirms what we knew anyway. Importantly this study hasn?t come from a company that has come out with their own arguments on social media success, these are the rankings given by a large group of Social Informants, giving their opinion.

Now of course this is my interpretation of the study, but it?s surprising that this association of success with numbers, is at odds with Evan Krauss, director of APCO Online and his analysis of the research. In an article he said ?We at APCO believe influence is a far more more important gauge than raw numbers?. The study was certainly organised to reflect this, with ?dialogue? being the most heavily weighted of the six factors, equating for 30% of the final score. But rather than looking at the quality of dialogue, i.e. little to none from Google, the wealth of dialogue of their followers was clearly deemed as important. Despite the fact that they were effectively talking to themselves, with no engagement from the organisation.

This is without doubt one of the most interesting studies into social media effectiveness that I?ve seen in a while. It holds a lot of merit and the strategy behind it shows an understanding of social media that we haven?t really seen in any previous studies. The sophistication of this model should not be underestimated. But when Nestle are ranked at number 18 (and number 15 for dialogue), you know there?s something that?s not quite right yet! I hope this study continues and evolves as I think it holds the most potential. I would like to see the approach expanded out to different areas and niche industries, to gain a deeper understanding of social media success.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/11/25/finding-new-ways-to-measure-success-in-social-media/

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